“The O-1 nonimmigrant Visa is for the individual who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements.”

Targeted squarely at highly-skilled individuals, the O-1 Visa is perfect for IT experts and the number is uncapped. So why don’t businesses use these?

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Department must receive documentation of the worker’s contract and itineraries.

In other words, an O-1 Visa applicant is an independent, highly-paid expert. That’s not what most businesses hiring foreign workers want. They won’t save money, they don't have as much control of the employee, and they’re subject to operational guidelines.

Unlike the H-1B Visa, which we’ve been told is aimed (but isn’t) at highly-skilled employees that are not available in the U.S., the O-1 Visa actually IS for highly-skilled employees that you can't find in the U.S.

The O-1 Visa’s existence destroys the argument for more H-1Bs. If you truly want the “best and brightest” and they’re in another nation, you can get them. There is no limit on the number and no need to fire American workers.

But the businesses don’t get cheap labor they can exploit. Big foreign consultancies can’t make millions throwing bodies at the U.S. either. That’s why we don’t hear about the O-1.

2017 UPDATE: We verified that the O-1 Visa is still active and available, as of October 2017.